Having finally painted the last 20 Goblins for my 30 years old 2000 pts. Orcs and Goblins army, I decided to make my own homemade acrylic wash for Miniature Painting. Why a DIY wash? Simply because I didn’t want to “waste” my expensive miniature painting washes on large units with tabletop-ready paintjobs. Your approach might, of course, be different. In the past, I already revealed to you my simple recipe for oil washes and I’ve already done a bottle of wash for terrain. This time, I’ll try to come up with a miniature wash similar to the commercial ones, like Citadel’s Agrax Earthshade and The Army Painter’s Strong/Dark Tone. The basic premise was to create something simple, cheap and reproducible.
What you’ll need.
- Distilled water (I’ll get mine from the clothes dryer)
- Black Ink
- Brown Ink
- Acrylic medium (I use clear matt varnish from the cheapo store)
- Dishwasher Rinse Aid Liquid (the blue liquid your put into the dishwasher to make your wine glasses shine.)
- A bottle or a jar to store your precious potion
- A small funnel an a pipette are very useful if mixing directly in a bottle.
Mixing your own liquid talent
As a guideline, here are the (very rough) ratios:
| Distilled water | 60 % |
| Black ink | 2,5 % |
| Brown ink | 2,5 % |
| Acrylic medium | 25 % |
| Dishwasher rinse liquid | 10 % |
You’ll need to experiment and fine tune the ratios to your liking. For instance you might want to make your homemade wash lighter or darker, depending on how you approach painting your miniatures. Also, why not use gloss varnish or medium? Fancy another color? Just swap your black and brown ink.
Next, you simply mix your ingredients in a cup or recipient of choice. Always test it in between on both a primed and painted miniature. When happy, pour the liquid into its final container and close the lid.
Et voilà: your own Homemade Wash for your Miniature painting purposes!
Enjoy playing around with your liquid talent and happy painting.
Troubleshooting
| Issue: | Possible solution: |
|---|---|
| Wash not entering into recessed areas. | Add more rinse liquid to break surface tension. |
| Chalky finish when drying. | Add more rinse liquid to break surface tension. |
| No paint in the recessed areas | Add more ink to increase pigmentation. |
| Wash too runny and not staying in recessed areas while drying. | Add more medium to thicken the wash consistency. |
| Wash consistency to thick. | Add more distilled water. |
Pro-tip: Wear old clothes. Stains will be made! Trust me. I’ve got one pair of jeans less now …
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Great tip, thanks!